On March 11, the Women on Wednesdays series will continue, featuring guest lecturer Sage Perrott. Perrott is an ETSU Assistant Professor for the Department of Art & Design and will lead the discussion of “Zines! Zines! Zines!” Perrott will discuss the art of zines, its accessibility and her own personal adaptation of the style. She will also include a hands-on zines activity for those who attend the event.
What are zines? Perrott describes zines as “little booklets” that can be given to anyone. “How can you use work around you to make things you still want to make?” she asked. In terms of cost, zines can be made on a copier.
“When you talk about fine art, we often think about things being expensive or kept in a museum,” Perrott said. “There’s a certain level of access.”
Zines are an art style that anyone can make and are typically self-published, so there’s no need to deal with publishers or feel pressured to be placed in a fine arts exhibit.
“They share a lot of commonality with printmaking,” Perrott said. “They’re accessible. … Anyone can have them and anyone can make them.”
Perrott’s personal style is visual and has her own sets of zines as well as some that she collects.
“I’m really inspired by comic books and comic book culture and narrative storytelling,” Perrott said. “Those are the types I tend to collect from other people.”
Perrott’s own set of zines include “cranky lumpy creatures that are doing various things,” along with zines inspired by her three cats. One set of zines Perrott has made is titled, “I’m Scared of Everything,” inspired by her cat, Goblin.
Perrott’s known as “Haypeep” because of her online platform, one of them being Tumblr. While Perrott uses the internet as a means of sharing her work, she also like having a tangible piece of art.
“[Zines] do a lot of the things the internet does now but in a sensible form,” she said.
Zines aren’t just for those who fall under the traditional art forms. Perrott said zines are for everyone with different interests.
“[Zines] can be anything,” she said. “A lot of poets like zines because they can be text or a combination of texts.”
Perrott first learned about zines as a young adult, though she didn’t invest in them until she reached grad school.
“It was a nice outlet,” she said. “In grad school there’s a certain amount of pressure to produce work at a very high level. There wasn’t a lot of pressure to make zines on the side for fun.”
Perrott encourages anyone to explore the art of zines.
“I wouldn’t look for fame and fortune in it, but you can interact with other artists,” she said. “It’s a way to create a community.”
The “Zines! Zines! Zines!” event will begin at noon in the Reece Museum and is free for the public.
